Rock-drilling machine.



,, wnfok Patented Feb. 6,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l W. C. STEPHENS.

ROCK DRILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1915.

W. C. STEPHENS.

ROCK DRILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATLON FILED MAY19. 1915. 1,214,607. Patented Feb. 6,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wilmsea Ira/612507.

M W mm/EM Li AW w. c. STEPHENS. ROCK DRILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYI9. IBIS. 1,214,607. Patented Feb. 6,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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9 MM wmem W efim WILLIAM CHARLES STEPHENS, F CORNWALL, ENGLAND.

ROCK-DRILLING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 1917.

Application filed May 19, 1915. Serial No. 29,138.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM CHARLES STEPHENS, a SLlbJGCi] of the King of Great 1 Britain, residing at The Climax Rock Drill & Engineering Works, Limited, Carn Brea, Cornwall, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in or Connected with Rock-Drilling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rock drilling machines of the hammer type. In machines of this type as now generally constructed, it is a common practice to make the drill shanks, tools, or borers of roundsteel, and to form long wings, squares, flats or the like thereon to allow of the operation of the twisting device; such an arrangement, however, is expensive. Furthermore, when the drill shanks are made hollow for delivering water to the bottom of the bore hole, a lateral hole for admitting the water has to be formed through the drill shank at some distance from the end of the latter, which hole is a source of weakness when the drill is at work, and if, as sometimes occurs, the drill shank breaks, a considerable length of steel is wasted.

The object of my invention is to simplify the construction of the drill shank and also, when water circulation is provided for, to arrange that in case of the fracture of the drill shank, only a short length of steel shall be wasted.

In carrying out my invention, the steel of which the drill shank is constructed is flattened at the end only so as to give it the form of a chisel or punch bar with a blunt edge, or instead of making it in this manner it can be formed with one flat or with three or more flats, as desired, the essential condition, however, being the formation of only the extreme end of the drill shank with one, two, three or more sides which will fit into a correspondingly shaped socket, chuck or stop in the front cover of the drill and project into the drill cylinder so that it will be struck by the hammer, the said front cover being fixed so as to be rotated or oscillated with the drill and thereby correspondingly rotate or drive the drill shank or tool without employing a separate rotating device attached to the tool itself. When the drill shank or borer is provided with a central hole for the flow of water, the flattening of the rear end of the said borer closes the hole and seals the end to prevent the water leaking back into the machine. To introduce Water into the central hole in the borer a small drilled radial hole is provided as heretofore, but this radial hole is near to the flattened end of the borer so that in case of justing the compression of such packing rings.

My invention will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings,

' in which Figure 1 is a side view partly in section of a front portion of a drill having my improvements applied to it. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the chuck end of the drill. Fig. 3 is a view looking in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, and Fig. 4c is a section on the line 4-4, Fig. 1. Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively a side view and an end view of the chuck detached. Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively a side view and an end view of a cam lever, and Fig. 9 is a face view of a cam plate for compressing the packing rings in the packing sleeve. Fig. 10 is a sectional side view illustrating a modification in the construction of the chuck, and Fig. 11 is a plan thereof. Figs. 12 and 13 are sections on the lines 1212 and 13-13 of Fig. 10, respectively. Figs. 1 1 and 15 are elevations at right angles of a detail. Figs. 16 and 17 are respectively a longitudinal section and an end view illustrating a further modification.

a indicates the cylinder of the drill and b the piston or hammer reciprocating therein.

0 is the front cover of the cylinder and a, (Z are longitudinal bolts by means of which the said cover is held in position on the cylinder, springs e, 6 being arranged upon extensions of the said bolts between the heads and a plate 0 to minimize the vibration due to the concussion of the hammer.

Referring to the arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1 to 9, f is the chuck which is fitted into a recess in the cover 0, the said chuck (which is shown detached in Figs. 5 and 6) vided with flat surfaces similar to a chisel orpunch bar, the extreme end of the said borer projecting through the chuck f so that it will be struck by the hammer Z) as the latter reciprocates. In the drawings I have represented the b'orer as being formed with only two flat surfaces. It will be obvious, however, that it may be formed with three or more such surfaces, the aperture g in the chuck being correspondingly shaped. it will be understood that with this arrangement the cost of preparing borers to it a drill can be cheaply and expeditiously effected.

\Vhen provision is to be made for supplying water through the borer it the front cover 0 has formed integral with it a sleeve t' forming a stufiing box, the gland of which is partly formed of the plate 0 before referred to. l'Vithin this stufiing box is a ring Z bored and turned so that spaces are formed be tween the walls of the said stufling box and the said ring and between the ring and the borer h, a series of holes Z being made in the said ring to allow Water which is introduced, say, through the socket Z to pass into the central hole at of the borer through the lateral hole 072 In connection with this ring Z are packing rings a, n which are preferably made concave on the outer side and convex on the innerside, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, so that when the gland e is tightened up the slight compression produced thereby will cause the said rings to bulge inwardly, so as to form a tight joint around the borer h. WVhen the pressure on the said gland is s1ackened, the pressure of the rings a upon the borer h is relieved so that the latter can be readily removed and replaced. In order to facilitate compressing the packing rings a around the borer it when the latter is in a position for operation, and for relieving the pressure of the said rings upon the borer when the latter is to be removed, I arrange in front of the gland a plate 0, Figs. 2 and 9, forming an abutment through which the said borer is adapted to pass and fit somewhat closely, the said abutment engaging the extensions of the bolts (Z and being held against movement in one direction thereon by means of nuts 0 Between the gland e and the abutment 0 is arranged a cam ring 77 through which the borer it passes, the said ring being provided with a projecting lever handle 79 Figs. 7 and 8, for rotating it, and having upon one face inclined or cam surfaces 9, g which correspond with cam surfaces 9 g upon the abutment 0, or upon the gland 6 in such a manner, that when the said cam ring is Instead of, or in addition to, the cam ring. 7) before described, I may construct the nuts 0 which secure the abutment 0, or the gland 6 upon the bolts (Z, (Z with ribs r, 1" which engage with corresponding grooves on the face of the said abutment, this construction allowing of the ready adjustment of the nuts while at the same time preventing them from working loose under vibration.

In order to compensate for the wear due to the continual vibration to which the borer 71 is subjected so that it will be caused to project to a. uniform extent through the chuck or stop and also to provide for positioning c the said borer in case one side of the said chuck or stop wears more than the other, I sometimes construct the chuck with movable jaws or blocks, according to the number of flats formed upon the borer, the said-jaws or blocks being adjustable in a radial direction with relation to the axis of the borer h, the faces of the blocks with which the flats of the borer come incontact being inclined to correspond with the inclination of the said flats. This modification is illustrated in Figs. 10 to 15, s, 8 being the jaws or blocks which form the socket into which the end of the borer it fits. These blocks 8 are located in a transverse groove or recess formed in the end of the cover 0 adjacent to the cylinder at and are arranged with their inclined faces oppo site to one another so that the tapered end of the borer k can be introduced between them. On opposite sides of the cover 0 are arranged plates 2?, 6 through which screwthreaded studs or shanks s 8 on the said jaws or blocks 8 project, the blocks being securely fixed to the said plates, for instance,

by nuts 29, 25 so as to be adjustable therewith.

These plates are carried by bolts u, u passed through the cover 0 from side to side so that they are common to both plates t, whereby the tightening of nuts a 16 upon the said bolts will adjust both plates t and consequently the jaws s, 8 simultaneously. The adjusting nuts u a are preferably formed on their under surfaces with ribs which cooperate with notches on the adjacent plate t (as hereinbefore described with reference to the nuts 0 in the bolts (Z) so that they can be readily adjusted, and springs o, o are arranged between the said plates t and the cover 0, the action of which springs is to press the said plates against/the ioo clearly shown in Figs. 16 and 17. strlps are connected at their outer ends by nuts a 10 As a further modification of the arrangement for compensating for wear of the flat surfaces due to the continual vibration, I form through the cover 0 two parallel slots which intersect the central recess therein and having their inner or adjacent surfaces in planes corresponding with the planes of the flats or inclined surfaces on the borer 7L, and into these slots I insert strips '10, w of steel or other suitable metal which will constitute the flats of the chuck, as These keys 00, x or by other suitable means so as to prevent them from falling out of position, to allow of their being shifted from time to time to bring fresh surfaces into position for contact with the head of the borer as may be required.

Having now fully described and ascertained my said invention and the manner in which it is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is l. A rock drilling machine comprising a working cylinder provided with a chuck having a flat surface inclined to the longitudinal axis of said cylinder, a hammer piston mounted in said cylinder, and a drill bit mounted in said chuck and provided at its inner end with a flat inclined surface in engagement with the flat surface of the chuck,

A rock drilling machine comprising a working cylinder provided with a chuck having an adjustable member provided with a flat surface inclined to the longitudinal axis of saidcylinder, a hammer mounted in said cylinder, and a drill bitmounted in said chuck and provided at its inner end with a flat inclined surface in engagement with the flat surface of the chuck.

8. In a rock drilling machine, the combination with a working cylinder, of a hammer piston mounted in said cylinder, a front cover secured to the working cylinder and provided with a chuck having a fiat surface inclined to the longitudinal. axis of the cylinder, and a drill bit mounted in said cover and provided at its inner end with a flat inclined surface in engagement with the inclined surface of the chuck.

4. In a rock drilling machine, the combination with a working cylinder capable of a rotating or oscillating movement, of a hammer PlSilOI1 l'I10llnt6d therein, a front cover secured to said cylinder and provided with a chuck having a flat surface inclined to the longitudinal axis of the cylinder, and a drill bit mounted in said cover and provided at its inner end with a flat inclined surface in engagement with the Hat inclined surface of the chuck.

5. In a rock drilling machine, the combination with a working cylinder, of a hammer piston mounted therein, a front cover secured to the working cylinder and provided with a chuck having a fiat surface inclined to the longitudinal axis of the cylinder, a drill bit mounted in said cover and provided at its inner end with a flat inclined surface in engagement with the inclined surface of the chuck, a stufiing box formed integral with the cover, packing mounted in said stufling box and surrounding said bit, and means for compressing said packing in said stufling box for holding said bit in en gagement with the chuck.

6. In a rock drilling machine the combination with a working cylinder, of a ham mer mounted therein, a cover fixed to said cylinder and provided with a chuck having a flat surface inclined to the longitudinal axis of the cylinder, a drill bit mounted in said cover and having its inner end provided with a flat surface in engagement with the fiat surface of the chuck, a stuffing box also provided on said cover, packing arranged in said stuffing box and surrounding said bit, a gland for the stuffing box, and means for moving said gland with relation to said stufling box to compress said packing for holding the bit in engagement with the chuck.

7. In a rock drilling machine, the combination with a working cylinder capable of rotating or oscillatin movement, of a hammer mounted in the same for reciprocating movement, a cover secured to said cylinder by bolts and provided with a chuck having a flat surface inclined to the longitudinal axis ,of the cylinder, a stufling box integral with said cover, a drill bit passing through said stuffing box and having its rear end provided with a flat inclined surface for engagement with the flat surface of the chuck, packing provided in said stuffing box, a gland adapted to cooperate with said stuffing box, a plate mounted on said bolts and having a cam surface, springs mounted on said bolts between the gland and cover, and a cam member having a cam surface adapted to cooperate with the plate cam for moving said gland into the stufiing box and compressing the packing.

WlLLIAM CHARLES STEPHENS.

lVitnesses A. STEPHENS, B. V. WHEATON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

- Washington, D. C. 

